Oceanside city spending priorities draw little public interest

Council workshop poorly attended

Continuing a city drive to produce more of its own drinking water also was critical, Sanchez said.

Aside from looking at specific services, Sanchez said the city must try to bring more jobs to Oceanside.

“Smart growth and getting back to job creation is what we need to be doing,” Sanchez said. Smart growth is a phrase planners use for encouraging new construction along transit corridors.

Kern said the city couldn’t afford to do everything residents wanted.

“We have a finite amount of money,” Kern said. “There’s going to be tradeoffs.”

Still, Kern said restoring library hours was important because demand for library services is rising.

Graffiti removal was a big issue for Feller. He and Sanchez also said they wanted to eliminate red light cameras.

There was no support among council members for resuming fireworks.

At the workshop Wednesday, environmentalist Diane Nygaard said the city should consider raising the impact fees developers pay so the city will enough money to pay for critical services.

“It’s been eight years since park impact fees have been adjusted,” Nygaard said.

Capt. Joe Cacciola, owner of Sea Star Charters, said the city should improve the operation of the city harbor.

“It can and should be used as a source of income for the city,” Cacciola said. He said some businesses which lease space at the harbor were under-performing in part because there is little oversight by the city.

Resident Kim Fontes said the council could help the city by being more civil with each other.

“I’m here today to ask you all if we could just start to get along,” Fontes said.